Signing, Implementing  Renegotiated 2009 Agreement, Only Solution To  Strike – ASUU 

0
456

*says getting quality education, better life has become class war

By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan

Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU),  University of Ibadan branch,  Professor Ayo Akinwole has disclosed that signing and implementing of a renegotiated 2009 Agreement can end its over five months strike.

Professor Akinwole who made this known on Sunday, said ASUU will actively participate in the two days protest being organised by NLC and other labour unions in the country slated for this Tuesday and Wednesday.

The ASUU Chairman declared that, “Nigerians should not see the over five months  strike as an ASUU thing but a fight all Nigerians must own to have a future of quality education for their children”, adding, “ASUU members have sacrificed so much with their own welfare lamenting that the federal government owes their members over 9 years allowances.

” We are asking for a renegotiation of existing agreements that will position our members as human beings working in a decent place.

 “We are asking for Revitalization of Public Universities through appropriate funding. We are saying we have a better homegrown alternative of University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS)”, he said.

The ASUU Chairman added, “we are saying check proliferation of universities that you cannot fund and we are saying Nigerians deserve to be ranked among top 100 in the world if our leaders invest in education.We should be developing our own solutions not depending on others. Sadly we have uncoordinated Presidency and cabinet working at Cross purposes. This strike is not about ASUU, It is about the future of the Nigerian children.”

“We got here by collective negligence of electing incompetent people into public offices. The fight for quality education for the children of the masses has become a class war among the economic elite, the working class and the ruling class and until we rise up and demand accountability from those in office to do what is in the best interest of the majority, cycle of strikes and underdevelopment will not stop.” 

The ASUU Chairman lamented that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has displayed capacity to abuse trust, as the Memorandum of Understanding and Memorandum of Action signed with the government were not honoured. 

” Nigerians continue to elect people who don’t care about them. We worship those who have money than those with right virtues and have interest of the society at heart. Our renegotiation ought to have ended by 2012 but here we are in 2022 and yet the government is playing games with us”. 

According to Prof Akinwole “Nigeria is in the hands of incompetent people due to collective negligence of Nigerians adding that “Until we rise above sentiments to get responsible and responsive people who will be accountable to Nigerians into public offices the cycles of strikes will not end in Nigeria”.

He emphasized that the federal government led by President Buhari ” is largely uncoordinated where the president gives order and his media aide denied he gave such order, adding, although, Federal government had stopped the salaries of their members for five months, the lecturers are resolved to fight to victory over the parasitic ruling class.

While charging Nigerians to join the struggle to get money from government to  revitalise public funded university to give children of Nigerian masses hope of governing their country, he maintained that ” unless that is done, the children of the rulling class trained in foreign universities will return to take over from their wicked parents and continue to enslave Nigerians”.

On the nationwide solidarity strike directed by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the ASUU Chairman hinted that the union  will actively participate in the two days protest , lamenting  it is sad that President Buhari government which prides itself as fighting corruption will be frustrating the use of homegrown solution for IPPIS that has been discredited by audit report of 2019.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here